Americans United - Independence Dayhttps://au.org/tags/independence-day
enFireworks For The Fourth: No, The United States Was Not Founded To Be A ‘Christian Nation’https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/fireworks-for-the-fourth-no-the-united-states-was-not-founded-to-be-a-0
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p><em>Note: Today’s blog post originally ran last year to mark Independence Day. For more information about the “Christian nation” myth, see </em><a href="http://www.au.org/resources/publications/is-america-a-christian-nation"><em>this Americans United brochure.</em></a></p>
<p>Today is Independence Day, and many of us will be meeting up with family for cook-outs, picnics, reunions and other events.</p>
<p>While I’m certainly not recommending that you get into an argument with your Uncle Lou who watches too much Fox News, I acknowledge that it might happen. If it does and the topic of America as a “Christian nation” comes up, here is some information you might find useful.</p>
<p><em>Nowhere in the U.S. Constitution does that document state that America is a Christian nation. </em>This is kind of the slam-dunk argument because it’s fatal to the Christian nation advocates. If our founding document were intended to promote Christianity, it would say that front and center. It doesn’t.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="/files/images/blog_post/kitten%20July%204.jpg" style="width: 700px; height: 467px;" /></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><em>Even this little kitten knows that the United States was not founded to be a Christian nation. (Source: Getty Images)</em></p>
<p>It’s telling that Christian nation proponents rarely talk about the Constitution. Instead, they point to obscure 19th century court opinions, proclamations by politicians or comments by figures who lived years after the Constitution was adopted. Why don’t they talk about the Constitution? Because that document is wholly secular. Nowhere in the body of text do the words “Christian,” “Christ,” “Jesus” or “God” even appear.</p>
<p>Advocates of church-state separation rightly point to the First Amendment, which, through its language prohibiting laws “respecting an establishment of religion” and protecting the “free exercise thereof,” creates the separation of church and state. What’s sometimes overlooked is the language at the end of Article VI, which states that there shall be “no religious test” for federal office. Article VI makes it clear that public office is open to everyone, despite where they worship or whether they worship at all. That’s an odd provision for an officially Christian nation to make. </p>
<p><em>Key founders did not support the Christian nation concept. </em>Thomas Jefferson, author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which is widely considered a precursor to the First Amendment, opposed anything like an official government-backed church. Jefferson’s protégé, James Madison, is one of the primary authors of the First Amendment. Like Jefferson, Madison was a strong opponent of church-state union, as his writings and his actions make clear. The writings of both men make it apparent that they were strong foes of the Christian nation idea.</p>
<p>Were there some founders who backed the Christian nation concept? Probably. But their views failed to carry the day. If they had won, the Constitution would look quite different.</p>
<p><em>At the time of its adoption, everyone knew that the Constitution was secular. </em>Some clergy and political leaders of the day complained about the secular nature of the Constitution and its lack of Christian references. A few pastors went so far as to assert that the American political experiment would not succeed because the Constitution failed to acknowledge Christianity.</p>
<p>This type of carping continued into the 19th century. After the Civil War, a movement arose among conservative pastors to amend the Constitution by adding references to God, Jesus and Christianity. (Obviously there would have been no need for this if the Constitution had already set up a Christian order.) The movement collapsed, yet in the modern era the spiritual descendants of this drive began claiming, against all available evidence, that the United States was indeed founded to be a Christian nation.</p>
<p>Lately, some Christian nation advocates have gotten so desperate that they have taken to arguing that it was not necessary for the Constitution to explicitly mention Christianity because that document is obviously based on the Bible.</p>
<p>Really? Governments in the Bible are run by autocratic kings and emperors. Concepts like representative democracy, checks and balances and the separation of powers don't appear therein.</p>
<p>One more thing: The Christian nation idea is not a harmless belief. The myth of an officially Christian America sends a message of exclusion. Americans hold many religious and philosophical beliefs. Many are Christian (and even there we see great variety), but others are Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, atheist, humanist and so on.</p>
<p>All Americans should be equal in the eyes of the government, yet the Christian nation concept sends the message that there is a “true” religion – Christianity – and all other beliefs are merely tolerated, at best. Adherents of these “lesser” belief systems are told that they are second-class citizens, that they are little more than guests in their own nation.</p>
<p>In short, the Christian nation concept doesn’t celebrate the remarkable achievement of this nation – a story of religious freedom resting on a secular state that does not presume to meddle in private matters of theology. Instead, it buries that success story under a pile of far-right politics wedded to often dangerous forms of religious extremism and nationalism.</p>
<p>It is counter to the ideas we celebrate on the Fourth of July.</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/history-and-origins-church-state-separation">History and Origins of Church-State Separation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/legal-foundations-church-state-separation">Legal Foundations of Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/independence-day">Independence Day</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/july-4">July 4</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/thomas-jefferson">thomas jefferson</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/james-madison">James Madison</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/civil-war">Civil War</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/christian-nation">christian nation</a></span></div></div>Mon, 04 Jul 2016 12:38:36 +0000Rob Boston12069 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/fireworks-for-the-fourth-no-the-united-states-was-not-founded-to-be-a-0#commentsFireworks For The Fourth: No, The United States Was Not Founded To Be A ‘Christian Nation’https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/fireworks-for-the-fourth-no-the-united-states-was-not-founded-to-be-a
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">All Americans should be equal in the eyes of the government, yet the Christian nation concept sends the message that there is a &#039;true&#039; religion – Christianity – and all other beliefs are merely tolerated, at best. </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Tomorrow is Independence Day, and many of us will be meeting up with family for cook-outs, picnics, reunions and other events.</p><p>While I’m certainly not recommending that you get into an argument with your Uncle Lou who watches too much Fox News, I acknowledge that it might happen. If it does and the topic of America as a “Christian nation” comes up, here is some information you might find useful.</p><p><em>Nowhere in the U.S. Constitution does that document state that America is a Christian nation. </em>This is kind of the slam-dunk argument because it is fatal to the Christian nation advocates. If our founding document were intended to promote Christianity, it would say that front and center. It doesn’t.</p><p>It’s telling that Christian nation proponents rarely talk about the Constitution. Instead, they point to obscure 19th century court opinions, proclamations by politicians or comments by figures who lived years after the Constitution was adopted. Why don’t they talk about the Constitution? Because that document is wholly secular. Nowhere in the body of text do the words “Christian,” “Christ,” “Jesus” or “God” even appear.</p><p>Advocates of church-state separation rightly point to the First Amendment, which, through its language prohibiting laws “respecting an establishment of religion” and protecting the “free exercise thereof,” creates the separation of church and state. What’s sometimes overlooked is the language at the end of Article VI, which states that there shall be “no religious test” for federal office. Article VI makes it clear that public office is open to everyone, despite where they worship or whether they worship at all. That’s an odd provision for an officially Christian nation to make. </p><p><em>Key founders did not support the Christian nation concept. </em>Thomas Jefferson, author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which is widely considered a precursor to the First Amendment, opposed anything like an official government-backed church. Jefferson’s protégé, James Madison, is one of the primary authors of the First Amendment. Like Jefferson, Madison was a strong opponent of church-state union, as his writings and his actions make clear. The writings of both men make it apparent that they were strong foes of the Christian nation idea.</p><p>Were there some founders who backed the Christian nation concept? Probably. But their views failed to carry the day. If they had won, the Constitution would look quite different.</p><p><em>At the time of its adoption, everyone knew that the Constitution was secular. </em>Some clergy and political leaders of the day complained about the secular nature of the Constitution and its lack of Christian references. A few pastors went so far as to assert that the American political experiment would not succeed because the Constitution failed to acknowledge Christianity.</p><p>This type of carping continued into the 19th century. After the Civil War, a movement arose among conservative pastors to amend the Constitution by adding references to God, Jesus and Christianity. (Obviously there would have been no need for this if the Constitution had already set up a Christian order.) The movement collapsed, yet in the modern era the spiritual descendants of this drive began claiming, against all available evidence, that the United States was indeed founded to be a Christian nation.</p><p>Lately, some Christian nation advocates have gotten so desperate that they have taken to arguing that it was not necessary for the Constitution to explicitly mention Christianity because that document is obviously based on the Bible.</p><p>Really? Governments in the Bible are run by autocratic kings and emperors. Concepts like representative democracy, checks and balances and the separation of powers don't appear therein.</p><p>One more thing: The Christian nation idea is not a harmless belief. The myth of an officially Christian America sends a message of exclusion. Americans hold many religious and philosophical beliefs. Many are Christian (and even there we see great variety), but others are Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, atheist, humanist and so on.</p><p>All Americans should be equal in the eyes of the government, yet the Christian nation concept sends the message that there is a “true” religion – Christianity – and all other beliefs are merely tolerated, at best. Adherents of these “lesser” belief systems are told that they are second-class citizens, that they are little more than guests in their own nation.</p><p>In short, the Christian nation concept doesn’t celebrate the remarkable achievement of this nation – a story of religious freedom resting on a secular state that does not presume to meddle in private matters of theology. Instead, it buries that success story under a pile of far-right politics wedded to often dangerous forms of religious extremism and nationalism.</p><p>It is counter to the ideas we celebrate on the Fourth of July.</p><p>(Note: This blog post is based in part on an editorial that appeared in the July-August issue of <em>Church &amp; State</em>. Happy Independence Day!)</p><p> </p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/history-and-origins-church-state-separation">History and Origins of Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/independence-day">Independence Day</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/july-4">July 4</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/thomas-jefferson">thomas jefferson</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/james-madison">James Madison</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/constitution">Constitution</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/article-vi">Article VI</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/civil-war">Civil War</a></span></div></div>Fri, 03 Jul 2015 13:09:41 +0000Rob Boston11247 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/fireworks-for-the-fourth-no-the-united-states-was-not-founded-to-be-a#commentsFaith, Freedom And Frankfurters: An Independence Day Reflectionhttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/faith-freedom-and-frankfurters-an-independence-day-reflection-0
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Theocracy-minded ministers of the founding period knew that the Constitution was secular – and they attacked it for that reason. </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p><em><strong>Editor's Note: </strong>"The Wall of Separation" today is re-posting an item that originally appeared on July 4, 2011. Happy Independence Day!</em></p><p>Last week, I gave a talk about church-state history at my wife’s church. I called my speech “The ‘Christian Nation’ Myth.”</p><p>Although I’m not an attorney, I laid out the case against the idea that the United States is some sort of officially Christian nation as one would in a courtroom, by marshaling the evidence. I put forth the following points:</p><p>* The Constitution does not say we’re a Christian nation. The body of the document contains no reference to Christianity, Jesus Christ or even God. Had an officially Christian nation been the founders’ intent, they would have put it in there. Instead, they crafted a First Amendment that separates church and state and wrote Article VI, which bans “religious tests” for public office.</p><p>* Key founders like Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and others knew that combinations of church and state crushed human freedom. They knew about the European experience, and they had seen the dangers of church-state union in some of the colonies. They wanted to ensure liberty by ending what Jefferson called this “loathsome combination” of church and state.</p><p>* Many founders were skeptical of orthodox Christian theology. Several, like Jefferson, had Deistic views. Jefferson admired the moral teachings of Jesus but did not accept his divinity. Adams considered the Trinity nonsensical. Madison, who was prone to remain silent about his personal beliefs, wrote frequently about the dangers of government-sponsored religious persecution.</p><p>* Theocracy-minded ministers of the founding period knew that the Constitution was secular – and they attacked it for that reason. One New York pastor in 1793 said that he was offended by the lack of references to God in the Constitution and told his flock that God would retaliate and “crush us to atoms in the wreck.” After the Civil War, a band of fundamentalist ministers proposed amending the Constitution to declare America officially Christian. Obviously, they would not have pushed for this addition if the document already had a sectarian slant.</p><p>I talked a little about why the “Christian nation” myth continues to have such a hold. It serves a political purpose, to be sure, but it’s also an expression of triumphalism. It says, “My religion is better than yours. The government thinks so. You’re a second-class citizen.”</p><p>And that’s why the myth is so dangerous. In a country that is about inclusion, it excludes. In a country that celebrates religious freedom, it implies that some religions should have more rights than others.</p><p>Today is the Fourth of July, a time when we celebrate our nation and its accomplishments. High on that list is the separation of church and state. This principle, pioneered by our founders, has given us the greatest degree of religious freedom known to the world – and a country where Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, atheists and so on live side by side in a large degree of interfaith peace.</p><p>No officially “Christian nation,” no attitude of “some religions are better than others,” no concept of an official religion with mere toleration of others could have given us that.</p><p>I hope you have some time off today. Maybe you’ll attend a picnic and enjoy some hot dogs and watermelon. Perhaps spend time with family and friends. You might see some fireworks. These things are quintessentially American, so have at it. But also take a moment to reflect on our freedoms, how we got them and what they’ve done for us.</p><p>Then take the next step by resolving to stand up and work to preserve them.</p><p> </p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/history-and-origins-church-state-separation">History and Origins of Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/independence-day">Independence Day</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/fourth-of-july">Fourth of July</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/christian-nation-myth">Christian nation myth</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/thomas-jefferson">thomas jefferson</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/james-madison">James Madison</a></span></div></div>Fri, 04 Jul 2014 13:10:02 +0000Rob Boston10234 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/faith-freedom-and-frankfurters-an-independence-day-reflection-0#commentsFaith, Freedom And Frankfurters: An Independence Day Reflectionhttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/faith-freedom-and-frankfurters-an-independence-day-reflection
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">It&#039;s time to lay out the case against the &#039;Christian nation&#039; myth.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Last week, I gave a talk about church-state history at my wife’s church. I called my speech “The ‘Christian Nation’ Myth.”</p>
<p>Although I’m not an attorney, I laid out the case against the idea that the United States is some sort of officially Christian nation as one would in a courtroom, by marshaling the evidence. I put forth the following points:</p>
<p>* The Constitution does not say we’re a Christian nation. The body of the document contains no reference to Christianity, Jesus Christ or even God. Had an officially Christian nation been the founders’ intent, they would have put it in there. Instead, they crafted a First Amendment that separates church and state and wrote Article VI, which bans “religious tests” for public office.</p>
<p>* Key founders like Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and others knew that combinations of church and state crushed human freedom. They knew about the European experience, and they had seen the dangers of church-state union in some of the colonies. They wanted to ensure liberty by ending what Jefferson called this “loathsome combination” of church and state.</p>
<p>* Many founders were skeptical of orthodox Christian theology. Several, like Jefferson, had Deistic views. Jefferson admired the moral teachings of Jesus but did not accept his divinity. Adams considered the Trinity nonsensical. Madison, who was prone to remain silent about his personal beliefs, wrote frequently about the dangers of government-sponsored religious persecution.</p>
<p>* Theocracy-minded ministers of the founding period knew that the Constitution was secular – and they attacked it for that reason. One New York pastor in 1793 said that he was offended by the lack of references to God in the Constitution and told his flock that God would retaliate and “crush us to atoms in the wreck.” After the Civil War, a band of fundamentalist ministers proposed amending the Constitution to declare America officially Christian. Obviously, they would not have pushed for this addition if the document already had a sectarian slant.</p>
<p>I talked a little about why the “Christian nation” myth continues to have such a hold. It serves a political purpose, to be sure, but it’s also an expression of triumphalism. It says, “My religion is better than yours. The government thinks so. You’re a second-class citizen.”</p>
<p>And that’s why the myth is so dangerous. In a country that is about inclusion, it excludes. In a country that celebrates religious freedom, it implies that some religions should have more rights than others.</p>
<p>Today is the Fourth of July, a time when we celebrate our nation and its accomplishments. High on that list is the separation of church and state. This principle, pioneered by our founders, has given us the greatest degree of religious freedom known to the world – and a country where Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, atheists and so on live side by side in a large degree of interfaith peace.</p>
<p>No officially “Christian nation,” no attitude of “some religions are better than others,” no concept of an official religion with mere toleration of others could have given us that.</p>
<p>I hope you have some time off today. Maybe you’ll attend a picnic and enjoy some hot dogs and watermelon. Perhaps spend time with family and friends. You might see some fireworks. These things are quintessentially American, so have at it. But also take a moment to reflect on our freedoms, how we got them and what they’ve done for us.</p>
<p>Then take the next step by resolving to stand up and work to preserve them.</p>
<p> </p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/foundations-church-state-separation">Foundations of Church-State Separation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/history-and-origins-church-state-separation">History and Origins of Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/benjamin-franklin">Benjamin Franklin</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/christian-nation">christian nation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/independence-day">Independence Day</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/james-madison">James Madison</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/john-adams">John Adams</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/thomas-jefferson">thomas jefferson</a></span></div></div>Mon, 04 Jul 2011 11:56:46 +0000Rob Boston2209 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/faith-freedom-and-frankfurters-an-independence-day-reflection#comments